For the last few years I’ve had great success cultivating garlic. Cloves for my first planting came from Smith’s Apple Orchard. Grow local they say.

They were big, white cloves that produced rich green curly scapes in early summer. We learned how to use them in salads, soups, sauces, toppings, and pastas and how to cook with them. Then in mid-July we took our first harvest. We were rewarded with big fat bulbs whose colour went from white in some to a light purple in others. Some were saved for the next planting. Some went to friends and family.

Each fall we would till and fertilized the small bed, planting two rows, then four last year. Each summer the results were the same.

Until this summer. The buds were not as big as before. So we delved into farmer’s lore and decided to rotate our crop, moving the planting to another side of the garden. After laying down a layer of mulch we considered our work done until spring.

Today I just happened to walk behind the garden shed to discover that my garlic garden had been attacked. Holes had been dug along the edges. Earth was piled here and there on top of the mulch. The garlic patch was under attack. Now there are really only two creatures that can dig like that…raccoons and skunks. I know this because I watched them destroy my lawn a few years back when we had an infestation of grubs.

Alas, this is a sad state of affairs. Who knows how many cloves they managed to gobble up? Who knows if they will be back? Who knows how to keep them away?

We can only hope that the now frozen ground will be deterrent enough.
I can’t help smile, though, at the thought of a raccoon reeking of garlic. Or even worse, how lethal these skunk raiders must be. They can spray you or unleash their garlic breath on you…deadly at both ends. Just another reason to avoid these poachers if you catch them in the act.

This blog is about my hometown and the simplicity of life that informs it. It will also digress, now and then, into things that catch my interest and stuff that influences my life. It is also a writing exercise. Pure indulgence on my part. Where did I come from? Lived in Toronto, Canada's biggest city. Lived in Sault Ste Marie, Hamilton, and Montreal as well. Moved to one of Ontario's smallest towns (Southampton). Worked as a Copywriter then Creative Director for large, international advertising agencies with experience all across Canada, New York, Chicago, L.A., London England and Hong Kong. Now I write as a hobby.
Enjoy!